10,269.7 Miles
It’s already August and I am almost finished with my 7th week on the road. Writing on the road have proof to be a challenge, mainly due to time rather than anything else. I’m trying to get to Central and South America before September, as I want to spend as much time down there as I can. I have many things I want to write about, but even when I have a few days at a friends place or couchsurfing, I find myself socializing and exploring the local festive rather than staying in to write. Perhaps when I stay in places much longer when I’m south of the border, this would not be such a hurdle.
I have since road the Alaskan Highway all the way to Alaska, wild camping along the entire length since I left Dawson Creek - my hosts at Dawson Creek was amazing, and my first buffalo I saw was dinner, hehehe. In fact I had it twice in the two days I spent there. I hope I can visit them in two years when I go back up with Lee to Tuk and other places.
In my multiple experiences of wild camping, I have stayed in multiple places that are yards away from wildlife such as bears and buffalo. I pulled out one morning when it was still very foggy out, and no more than 100 yards I see a brown bear right on the side of the road mauling on something. It was a bit of a delay “brown moment” lol.
I camped 3 days straight into Alaska first at fort nelson, then liard river, and then at the most amazing campsite at quill creek. I got into fairbanks rather early. I thought, it’s a great day for me to get a shower after so many days on the road. Incidentally, Phillip had no shower either. To top it off, my couchsurfer has only an outhouse for bathroom. And no running water. IT was the way of life out from the central hub of Fairbanks, which is maybe 15 square miles or less. I only stayed there for one night and decided, I would head up to the dalton highway. Next I camp at Yukon river camp, then Cold Foot on the way back, and then back to Philips friend who helped me fixed my frame, who also had only outhouse and no running water. Back to Philips, then the Denali Highway. Where me and Lee helped this old couple with thier spare tire that wouldn’t come off their truck. They bought us dinner and two drinks! But alas, still camping with no shower. Then finally Valdez glacier campsite. Lee and I originally thought the Valdez campground had no shower either, until the next morning, we saw people walking towards a bathroom area with towels. So on the 11th day, I took the longest hot shower in my life. Okay exaggeration, but I did take a good long time. I washed my hair three times, by that time it was very crusty.
After that I travel with Grizz-lee for 5 more days for a total of 7, and we had access to showers in many of the campsite he chose and he graciously paid for them because he choose the site and wanted the amenities. Which is very nice of him, but also I think the courtesy is proper, as I was wanting wild campsite and he wanted more amenities. I found the best sites are the wild sites, versus the RV campgrounds, but we travel at length together, and he was very verse of the area, so I stayed with him for a couple days. In reality, we paid for 3 campsites out of the 7 days we rode, some were free and some there wasn't anyone there to collect.
Over the years I have had lots of crashes on my motorcycle. Some I sustain injury (albeit minor), and others I roll over and get up and not a scratch on me. I road up to Prudhoe Bay in one day, and rode back down the same day. We actually pull into camp in 4 am and it was still sun out. The sun as you know never went down in the summer in Alaska, and it really messes with your circadian rhythm. I road over 600 miles that day. As with all things, it seems ridiculous at first to put that much mile on an uncomfortable dual sport, but over time, it just doesn't seem that big of a deal. 300 - 400 mile days are normal, 200-250 miles is super easy day. I think mainly I was adapting to the vast expanse that is of Canada, you just can't get anywhere at 250 miles a day. I am now comfortable at 120 miles in the saddle before break. Two breaks and a gas up and I’m off again.
I admit I was bombing through the Dalton Highway at 50 miles an hour the entire way, I was feeling the rhythm and the ride. My riding buddy at the time on a honda shadow never made the final 200 miles. Ironically, after I made it, I felt like it was very anti climatic, and as Lee tells me, I’ve been up there, I just turn around at the mountain pass, because there is nothing after it. He was right. But it is something to experience yourself, especially if it is your first time. Now I know, if I ever ride up there again, I would never go to the end, I would turn around at the pass too. Lol.
The morning after we camp at 4 am and got up at 9 am, me and Nate (I switched riding buddy when I came back), we rode the remainder 250 miles back into Fairbanks. Perhaps I was too tire, or going too fast, or just being careless. Either way, I came up on a right corner down hill turn with fresh gravel, and I started sliding. I kept on the rear brakes and it just kept sliding 1.) because I was going fast but also 2.) because my tires are pretty bald by now, the knobbies that hooked into the loose stuff is shallow and flat, so I kept sliding. As I inch closer to the edge, I chop the front brake and lay the bike down and I took dive. I don’t know if I was just really well train at martial arts falls or I just dump the bike so many times, but I didn’t have a scratch on me, not even on the jacket or pants. No injury or nothing, but the bike… that’s a whole other story.
The pannier case cracked open, (happy trails yours panniers sucks, single welded only on one side, split on the seams. Should never split on welded seams that easily, bent out of shape sure, but split on the seam like that is ridiculous), the rear subframe shifted as well as I realize the exhaust bracket is now rubbing it. It was pretty bad, and Nate had a bag we threw my yard sale item in (term for all your stuff all over the road), and we rode back into town.
I called up Phillip my couchsurfer extraordinaire who pointed me to his friend who can help me out, who is at a junkyard. Jon is his name, and he was amazing. We worked on it till 11:30 pm, and realize it was still sunny out. We hooked it up to a old dump truck and some ratcheting straps. I ended up crashing there for the night. Jon went to work the next morning, leaving me to my own accord. I ended up straightening everything. Then I went to another Jon, also recommended by my couch surfer. This Jon was an actual machinist with a full shop.
He waited for me as his last customer, and within 15 minutes, he has squared off all the dents in my pannier and in another 20 it was back in one piece welded and fitted back on the bike. It was quite the sight to see. I now understand why people say hard cases are easier to fix than soft bags. Its true, perhaps it may have fair better with soft bags, but rustling through the gravel I fear that it may have torn the bags and no one would be able to fix it easily. It’s impossible to tell. One thing is for sure, I’m uninjured and that’s all that matters and the bike is fixed and the show will go on.
If anything, that learning lesson on how Jon was able to repair my pannier was well worth it itself. To top it off he only charge me very little sum of money. Very generous guy and very nice guy. He even helped me with my wild shield repair. He showed me how to do it, and gave me some wire. So my 6 peice windshield was fixed the next day.
The rest is history, I rode over 5000 miles on the bike and it’s been performing flawlessly, like nothing ever happened. The pannier went through some rain and it has held up waterproof test as well. But what concerns me the most, is the physical reaction I have when I crashed. In the past, I have reacted as most people would have, adrenaline rush, heart pupitation, shock and shooken. Incidentally in the last 4 years or 5, any crash of any kind, regardless if I’m injured or not, I feel nothing. Absolutely nothing. No change in breathing, no change in heart rate. Even much later I don’t recount the incident in my head nor do I feel any sort of way about it. It is bizarre even for me. I don’t react to needing to fix the bike, I don’t get frustrated nor do I get motivated. Just flat affect all around. It’s something to be done, I do it. I crash, I get up and keep going. I dont even stress about the little things on the bike, like things broken or things not working. In fact the turn signal relay went bad in the crash and I rode without one for 5000 miles and I didnt even think twice about fixing it until I got to Lee’s place in seattle. I can say for certain it is not just crashing my bike. I simply don’t react to much of anything. Nate joked “you should tell them at your next physical”. Lol.
I’m not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing, but I do know it is kind of odd and not particularly normal response. Time will tell, and I will continue to explore this dynamic. Hopefully not crashing to my death or other dangerous activities that I’m usually fond of.
I did a few hikes along the way, one is the Valdez Glacier, and the other is the Columbia Glacier very nice. I even checked out the hatchery at Valdez that was very cool, and made me very very hungry to see all these Salmon… salmon is my favorite fish…. To eat. Lol.
I met a few contacts on the Dalton, and some I may meet up in South America. One is Felipe Daza from Argentina, he also got me in contact with the central and south american “couchsurfing” for motorcyclist specific group on a group chat, with hundreds of people. So I will definitely be using that as I cross both central and south america. There is a Brazilian couple I will also try to link up on my way down, from a motorcycle group. They look like they may be gang members, Even Better!
I only spent a 1 day fixing my pannier and I was already on my way riding around Alaska. I cross path with Lee again on the Denali Highway. He was so shocked to see my bike back, straighten and my pannier boxes welded and squared up. 24 hours ago, they saw me with all my stuff in a plastic bag. Philip (my couchsurfer) really was an amazing host and contact. I rode with Lee for over a week, coming down the cassiar and even stopping in at Tok, eagle claw motorcycle campground. The steam shower was the most wonderful experience. Gave me so much to think about and so many ideas.
Next challenge came on the road, as my rear tire was getting very bald. When I got to whitehorse the chip seal they throw down on the ground has done its number on my tire. But then again I got a lot of good miles out of them fighting the wind. 8000 miles on the motoz gps and I was very happy with them. Mostly for their road prowess, they hug corners like you are on street tires, and do the gravel and rough stuff pretty darn well on the Dalton. Thanks to rtwpauls review on the motoz, I will run them again as I cross over to South America. But it is bald, so I went to the yamaha dealership in whitehorse to get a tire. Only to find, that the only Kenda k270… you can get for 60 bucks, a rear 5.10 by 17, in the states they wanted 130 CAD for it. Which comes to just over 100 dollars. Holy cow! And apparently everything in Canada is expensive. Gas is consistently 5 dollars and sometimes 6 dollars inch-ing to 7 dollars per gallon in remote places. Locals tell me they raise the gas prices in the summer for tourist by nearly 20% and the regular high prices are taxes for all the social programs… well that really sucks if you are a motorsport enthusiasts. Its okay if you aren’t using any gasoline power stuff, but then again the tire prices will still get you.
So many people tell me they come to the states to get the tires, because its too ridiculously pricey there, the same clamour the wonderful social program of Canada… oh the hypocrisy lol. My problem still is no tires, and too expensive for a crappy tire. So I push the tire another 1000 miles down to Prince George. There, I was welcomed by advrider and forum member Kelly. Kelly took me around to every single tire shop in the area and haggled for me to get the best price I can. He is apparently a Canadian equivalent of a MSF instructor. For those that are unaware MSF is the USA version of the motorcycle training course to get your license. So he is very well known around the stores and he knows people. By some black magic, I was able to get a Mitas e09 rear tire, super knobby enduro tire, for 102 USD… which is magically cheaper than the 126 dollar that is selling at revzilla in the USA. Count me in. It wasnt gonna last more than 3-4000 miles, but it looks hardcore lol. It was also one hell of a stiff sidewall to spoon on. Luckily, it was a super hot day. I just let it soak in the sun until its soft, it was still a PITA but it went on okay.
Oh did I mention I got stung by yellow jacket on the bike? So I did, and it flew into my collar at speed, stung me on the neck and I slap it and fell into my back and stung me again. Ofcourse if you recall my rant before, I had one 3 years ago on my forearm also while riding, and it swell to a size of a baseball and then went down a bit and then 2 weeks later swell again and my whole body broke out in hives. I had to get steroids for 2 weeks to suppress the problem. So I was a bit proaction this time, I read that baking soda had canceling properties, so I made a concoction and rubbed it into the bite. I definitely overdid it, and burned my skin pretty badly on the site of the bite, but… the swelling completely went away after a day. So it looks like that is my solution. I may not be able to bring the baking soda with me over the border, as it looks like cocaine, but I’ll just buy some there when I cross the border. Baking Soda… not cocaine… okay we will see. lol.
Also discover the rear hub bearing is bad and Kelly called to a local shop and order it for me. I picked it up on the way out, since the tire is straight and tight and rode it as it to Lees, the bearing is definitely going out and it was definitely not "that bad"
Then went through banff, it really lives up to the hype. Fantastic scenery and tons of road side wild life.
Next I get to Seattle after a pit stop at Idaho to see some old friends from italy trip. As well as my 5 year ago cross country trip broke down location.
When I got to Seattle I stayed with Ben one of our e30 car groupie that is working in Seattle. First we met up with my middle school tennis buddy Sid and went to a British Car show.
Ben was a great host and we went to leavenworth (literally german town), and I got to drive his e30 convertible, just like mine I owned for 10 plus years. It was good times. Sid also came out and we all met up again!
Then I went to Lee’s to do all the service for my bike. All the stuff has arrived from last week. This preplan and shipping is quite exciting. Now I know how simon felt when all the stuff show up at my house weeks before he arrived. It’s like a refueling hub for everything else but the fuel. Riveted my first chain, replace all the worn pieces and got the bike up to snuff. Replace the rear wheel hub bearing that was going bad. Now the bike runs even better. The chain only had 10k or so on it, but with the calcium and crap on the dalton it got so gummed up. I tried to clean it so many times, and it really didn’t unkinked it. Then I went on a ride with Lee for a shake down ride.
Met up with my dads old colleague and had real food for the first time! Boy was I tire of burgers and fries
In the time I spent on the road, one thing I discovered. I should say “rediscovered”. As I couchsurf and found all the people that helped me along the way, whether is providing me a place to stay, cooking me a good meal, to driving me around the entire city looking for a tire. They all have one thing in common. They are very generous. As I looked back at all my friends, the closeness of friendship was never predicated on time I knew them but rather the generosity of the people I share my time with. I have met people I barely know and felt close to them, and there are those I known for nearly a decade that I will never be close with. Whether its with my time I spend helping them out without “needing to go” or buying gifts to show appreciation to buying them dinner or cooking them dinner to show appreciation. The courtesy is always reciprocated the right kind of kindred spirits.
I hosted surfers for a whole year before I headed on my trip. Mainly because I want to be part of the community and not just mooch off of people for accommodations. That and I love hosting random people that need a place to stay and cooking for them. They too are always generous. I have learned many things for my trip, especially from my friend Simon from Australia. I plan to host more people when I returned. I will talk about my couchsurfing experience another time.
Almost all the couchsurfer I have stayed with for over a day I have done something for them. Take them out to dinner, or cook for them. I like to say stinginess is a childish behavior, but the truth is even my former students that went to Italy with me was gracious and generous to me. The truth is, that the only meaningful friendship are build on generosity, the rest are just people you know.
Over the years I have lax on this philosophy that I always practiced, and in many way I began to get influenced to behaving selfishly. Over the last couple years, I have vacillated back and forth between my upbringing to my poor habit I picked up from peers. I have, without noises of others, return to my nature of my upbringing.
“Traveling solo is the only way to travel” as Dr. Whitlow told me in our many conversations. “The only person” he said “you can take travel advice from, is someone you are sleeping with”. Funny guy, but it is true in many ways. As I was leaving, my father told me, make sure when you go socialize with people, no matter who it is, always pull out your wallet and offer to pay no matter if you do or not. It is the proper courtesy and etiquette of our culture. It looks like he has quite a few lessons to reteach me after all.